Before and After - Part 4

When I say that this project was a pain in the butt, I mean it. Luckily Chris did all the crappy parts.

The original paint on the front porch and sidewalk was probably not proper, outdoor concrete paint. We know this because every time it rained it would bubble up and peel. There was no way to really know for sure though since it was like this when we bought the house. The color on the porch was a plum purple, and underneath that was white. The sidewalk was white and underneath that was the gray color that the driveway is. See...pain in the butt.

So, we first tried to get the 2 layers of paint off with the pressure washer. We thought since it was already peeling it'd work. Nope. What I did find (accidentally)that got some huge chunks off though was to take our leaf blower and get it under some of the bubbles and it would form a HUGE bubble and I could just grab it and peel it off. That took about half of the top purple layer off. The rest of it was covered in a liquid stripper, left on for a few hours, then painstakenly either pressure washed or scraped off by hand. It suuuuuuuuuucked.

When all the old paint was off (and in flakes all over our front yard) I was able to put the primer on. It was clear and sticky. Not like normal paint primer that you'd use in your house. Who knew! After it sat for 8 hours I could put the first coat of paint on. We used a "beige gray" which really just looks gray, but whatever. Trimed the edges with a big sponge brush then rolled on the rest with the paint roller. A few days later, when I found the time, I put the second coat on.

Getting all the old paint off was a pain in the butt. The painting was a breeze.

So here it is....before and after. Trust me...if you had seen the "before" in person, you would be amazed at how awesome the "after" looks now.

So fresh and so clean clean.

Sidewalk Before:



Sidewalk After:



Front Porch Before:



Front Porch After: